packages confirmation dialog too tall

[Tommy Trussell]

Every time I upgrade to a new release of ubuntu on this netbook (screen size 1024x600)* the upgrader churns away collecting its information and then when it presents the dialog with the packages to remove, not upgradeable, and packages to upgrade.

UNFORTUNATELY the buttons at the bottom of the dialog are not visible because there's WAY too much empty space in the dialog. I have to know to alt-drag the dialog up to get to the buttons. The dialog gets even bigger when I open the right-triangles to look at the lists, and does not shrink when I collapse the lists again. I would hope the dialog could better handle a short netbook screen.

The buttons on the dialog start out at a good size but the dialog gets too tall after opening the lists as described above. The dialog does not shrink itself to fit the screen.

*NOTE Since I first filed this bug on a small resolution Netbook, I have since also seen the problem on an ordinary Lenovo laptop, resolution 1366x768.

I just ran ubuntu-bug while upgrading xubuntu from 19.10 to 20.04.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.10
Package: ubuntu-release-upgrader-core 1:19.10.15.4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.3.0-62.56-generic 5.3.18
Uname: Linux 5.3.0-62-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.9
Architecture: amd64
CrashDB: ubuntu
CurrentDesktop: XFCE
Date: Fri Jul 17 12:27:06 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-08-14 (703 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 18.04.1 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Release amd64 (20180725)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: ubuntu-release-upgrader
Symptom: ubuntu-release-upgrader
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to eoan on 2020-07-17 (0 days ago)
VarLogDistupgradeTermlog:

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

I am upgrading from Ubuntu 19.10 to 21.04 "Hirsuite Hippo," and this just "bit" me again, this time on a laptop with a "normal" screen 1366x768 resolution. MAYBE it's because I also have an old small 1014x768 external monitor set as the primary display ??

Again, it's fortunate I know how to use the "windows" key to drag the screen up because I'm given no obvious way to resize the window to fit and make the "Do You Want to Start the Upgrade" window show the "Start Upgrade" button at the bottom.

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

I am upgrading from Ubuntu 21.10 to 22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish" on the same laptop as above, and was disappointed the upgrade window is STILL "too tall," so I had to know to window-key-click drag the window beyond the top of the screen so I could see the "Start Upgrade" button.

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

Interestingly, the Remove obsolete packages dialog is fine (it defaults to the maximum height (not too tall) AND it is a bit resizable so you can shrink it vertically maybe 20% on my screen. (see screenshot for max height)

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

I was just upgrading to Mantic and it hit me again, but this time I noticed the dialog wasn't too tall UNTIL I clicked items in the list of changes (Install, No longer needed, No longer supported by Canonical, Remove, and Upgrade)

Maybe most folks don't look at the list?

One frustrating thing (besides the "too tall" bug in the first place) is the window got big, but the little box with the list STAYED THE SAME SIZE!!! SO even though the window is too tall the list is hard to read because the box is only a bit taller than the contents with all of the items collapsed.

[Tommy Trussell (tommy-trussell)]

I just realized the upgrade to Mantic might have been the first time I noticed the "too tall" effect on a "normal" laptop (not a new one -- this is a Lenovo from about 2015). I definitely had the problem on "netbooks" but this laptop has a resolution of 1366x768